36 Hard Questions About The U.S. Economy That The Mainstream Media Should Be Asking

By Michael Snyder, on June 30th, 2013

If the economy is improving, then why aren’t things getting better for most average Americans? They tell us that the unemployment rate is going down, but the percentage of Americans that are actually working is exactly the same it was three years ago. They tell us that American families are in better financial shape now, but real disposable income is falling rapidly. They tell us that inflation is low, but every time we go shopping at the grocery store the prices just seem to keep going up. They tell us that the economic crisis is over, and yet poverty and government dependence continue to explode to unprecedented heights. There seems to be a disconnect between what the government and the media are telling us and what is actually true. With each passing day the debt of the federal government grows larger, the financial world become even more unstable and more American families fall out of the middle class. The same long-term economic trends that have been eating away at our economy like cancer for decades continue to ruthlessly attack the foundations of our economic system. We are rapidly speeding toward an economic cataclysm, and yet the government and most of the media make it sound like happy days are here again. The American people deserve better than this. The American people deserve the truth. The following are 36 hard questions about the U.S. economy that the mainstream media should be asking…

#1 If the percentage of working age Americans that have a job is exactly the same as it was three years ago, then why is the government telling us that the “unemployment rate” has gone down significantly during that time?

#2 Why are some U.S. companies allowed to exploit disabled workers by paying them as little as 22 cents an hour?

#3 Why are some private prisons allowed to pay their prisoners just a dollar a day to do jobs that other Americans could be doing?

#4 Why is real disposable income in the United States falling at the fastest rate that we have seen since 2008?

#5 Why do 53 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year?

#17 Why is the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars of municipal bonds being postponed?

#18 What are the central banks of the world going to do when the 441 trillion dollar interest rate derivatives bubble starts to burst?

#19 Why is Barack Obama secretly negotiating a new international free trade agreement that will impose very strict Internet copyright rules on all of us, ban all “Buy American” laws, give Wall Street banks much more freedom to trade risky derivatives and force even more domestic manufacturing offshore?

#20 Why don’t our politicians seem to care that the United States has run a trade deficit of more than 8 trillion dollars with the rest of the world since 1975?

#21 Why doesn’t the mainstream media talk about how rapidly the U.S. economy is declining relative to the rest of the planet? According to the World Bank, U.S. GDP accounted for 31.8 percent of all global economic activity in 2001. That number dropped to 21.6 percent in 2011.

#26 Why do some of the largest charities in America spend less than 5 percent of the money that they bring in on actual charitable work?

#27 Now that EU finance ministers have approved a plan that will allow Cyprus-style wealth confiscation as part of all future bank bailouts in Europe, is it only a matter of time before we see something similar in the United States?

#30 Why are so many cities all over the United States passing laws that make it illegal to feed the homeless?

#31 Why is government dependence in the U.S. at an all-time high if the economy is getting better? Back in 1960, the ratio of social welfare benefits to salaries and wages was approximately 10 percent. In the year 2000, the ratio of social welfare benefits to salaries and wages was approximately 21 percent. Today, the ratio of social welfare benefits to salaries and wages is approximately 35 percent.

#33 The number of Americans on food stamps has grown from 32 million to 47 million while Barack Obama has been occupying the White House. So why is Obama paying recruiters to go out and get even more Americans to join the program?

#34 Today, there are 56 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits. In 2035, there will be 91 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits. Where in the world will we get the money for that?

#35 Why has the value of the U.S. dollar fallen by over 95 percent since the Federal Reserve was created back in 1913?

And I also just did a new one hour interview with Ray Gano of Prophezine. During the interview I got into talking about some areas that I normally don’t talk that much about. You can find the interview here…

Very Good Interview. Thank you for your insights. I am in complete agreement with what I heard. Our nation is in great trouble and very few understand what is going on these days. I love the stuff I keep reading on the economic collapse blog you have written and researched. Hope to meet you in heaven someday.

Syrin

The state media would have to remove their knee pads first

Mondobeyondo

Save the knee pads. You’ll need tthem for all the praying in the days to come.

Stezie

You know, honestly, I think the MSM is just one big circus. I’ve noticed, time and again, that they deliberately go out of their way to talk about anything other than economic issues, or anything that puts the president or the government in a bad light. Just look at the news: Kim Kardashian, George Zimmerman, etc. They’re even resorting to Youtube fads.

I’ve been following this blog for some time now, and, looking at my surroundings, as well as doing some research of my own, I’m starting to see a pattern.

This whole situation just gives me really bad vibes. I’ve started to do some prepping a year ago. Is it already too late?

Edit: Also, I live in Canada, so happy Canada Day!

Rodster

It’s called the Gov’t media complex.

Stezie

Very true. It’s really disturbing just how far the US has drifted from its roots. I know every empire eventually dies out, but the US hasn’t even been around for two and a half centuries; it’s already falling to pieces. Pretty much every empire in human history has lasted much longer than this.

Ace

The U.S. has never come to terms with the tidal wave of domestic subversion. Communists operate freely and have open relations with politicians. The Framers might have rethought the issues of treason and impeachment had they anticipated that a future president would have a treasured text for his university lectures that was dedicated to Satan. Or that he had the hubris to speak of the fundamental transformation of the U.S.

MeMadMax

The communists said they would have never have come to power/stay in power if it weren’t for the press. Same holds true with communist-lite(socialist) type pesudo governments…

markthetruth

I hate The mouse touchpad and keyboards on my laptop computers , there each differnet and have their own issues and are a pain. Different brands different problems.

the end…

JustanOguy

#15 — Mortgage Delinquency Rates have been dropping and not going up. Government intervention has actually hindered the correction and delayed the foreclosure process to clean out the bad home loans. (There’s no shortage of stories out there of people who have not made a mortgage payment in over 3 years.)

The rest of your points are valid but doesn’t sell papers and attract advertising. The media machine is all about the bottom line at the end of the day.

…Unless of course it’s funded / subsidized by the Government and then it’s a propaganda machine.

condaggitt

3 years we have proof of some people going on 7 years no payments and no evictions

Gay Veteran

because the banks are bankrupt, to foreclose means they lose even more money, better to keep the property on the books at 100% of value

Ralfine

It all depends on how you define “economy”.

When you fire people to reduce wages, and give that work to the remaining staff, you save money, and make more profit in the short term.

Bot those who are fired and those who remain – their life gets more miserable.

And when those who remain are used up, and you didn’t train any replacement, you might have a real problem continuing your business.

But that is tomorrow and profit never asks about tomorrow, only today.

JustanOguy

Question #37 — With only 4.4% of the world population, why does the U.S. have 25% of the world’s inmates?

condaggitt

Because black people love committing crimes….its true once other black people come here and realize how good the police are, and dont have to fear them, then they start a new life and prosper….

Thats it…american blacks are the most clueless bunch of people in the world.

xander cross

Because white people made everything a crime against black people. Why the majority of drug users are white women and yet, they don’t get arrested? Why, because white people pay police protection money to look the other way.

condaggitt

you are weird……nobody struck down the voting rights act….what they did was to make it harder for black people to commit fraud. we should all applaud that 1 man 1 vote should be the law of the land….and the supreme court made that possible again

xander cross

No, they did not. Also, white people committed voter fraud for decades, but once again, we got to blame everything on black people right? But wait, did all of you blame mitt Romney for stealing Ron Paul’s votes in Maine and Virginia? Did all of you say that Ron Paul was cheated out of the election due to vote rigging right. So, who in the Republican Party cheated then? Michelle Bachman? Rick perry?… Inquiring minds want to know

Gay Veteran

right, because there was massive fraud, too bad that studies show that to be totally bogus
maybe you belong on a KKK website

condaggitt

No actually ohbewaana is doing a great job supporting the KKK….kept em killing each other keep em stupid like Rachel jentel…keep em locked up….Obewanna would make an excellent choice for a new grand dragon when he leaves office.

jaxon64

my favorite “Ironic Moment” of 2011 was watching Obama give the praise-filled eulogy at Grand Master Dragon of the KKK Sen Byrd of WV’s funeral service.
Or was the irony in the fact that the democrat created KKK head was having a black man lead the service at his passing?…either way you look at it–that one was a head scratcher…..
( until you realize the disdain and snubbing obama has for black americans)

condaggitt

Uh white women are not on the streets selling dope in plain view of the cops…..

xander cross

You sure about that? Yes, white women do sell drugs and are the number one users of drugs. Yes, they also sell drugs in front of the police everyday, but of course, we are to ignore that according to you.

xander cross

Also, why the Supreme Court struck down the voting rights act for black people, but pass gay marriage for white people even though the people voted against it?

Gay Veteran

well many states used to have laws against interracial marriage, but they were overturned by the Supreme Court in the 1960s

Gene Baugh BBA

Re. gay marriage:In America even the majority can’t vote to deprive liberty and equality to others.

Gay Veteran

try because we have an insane “war on drugs
The government got more and more power in that war, and is using the “war on terror” to seize even more.

Mondobeyondo

Without turning this into a black and white issue (yes I know, that was lame) —

It’s not about race. It’s about economics.

The Native Americans have done well with their casinos. Kind of a raw deal (you get your land, we get your wealth),

BUT… Land IS Wealth!! So, who’s the Fool on the Hill now? (thank you Paul McCartney!)

What would happen if African Americans owned a casino in say, Georgia? South Carolina?

Mondobeyondo

Do you have any facts to back up your allegation?

“Black people love committing crimes”, you say. People of all colors , yes, even green Martians, will do what it takes to survive. Nobody but the absolute psychotic people of the world (the Charles Mansons, Ted Bundys, etc) enjoy committing crimes.

It’s economic, not racial.

El Pollo de Oro

Per capita, The Banana Republic of America incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. Welcome to the Prison/Industrial Complex, brought to you by the criminal Republi-Cons and criminal Democraps. However, banksters are exempt.

xander cross

Hey, it’s time for another episode of the desperate people do desperate things tax.

Mondobeyondo

“Equal justice under law”….

Ralfine

“Why are 76 percent of all Americans living paycheck to paycheck?”

I wouldn’t have an answer to that.

Usually I try to save some money from anything I have available. And the nice thing of cash payments is, if it is gone it is gone. With a credit card you can spend more than you have, with cash you can’t. No debt, no loan, no interest – this saves a lot of money.

So, just take $10 every day for grocery shopping for yourself (for two people use $20, etc.) Don’t use the card. Just the cash. And save some. Don’t spend all.

Back at home, put the savings away, put another $10 in your pocket for the next day.

Buying in bulk can be cheaper. So save enough over one month to have enough for bulk purchases. DO NOT use all your current spending money for buying in bulk for the next month. You never know what emergency cash you will need. Only use the savings from last month for bulk purchases.

The second most important thing is: write down how you spend your money each day. Then compare your notes – which shop has the cheaper price, is there a seasonal difference, are special offers really that special? Is it really necessary to spend so much on pastry and other junk food?

Third – mend things, maintain them to make them last longer. Mend tears in your clothes before you put them into the washer, so that tears do not tear further. Glue your shoes in time before the sole rips off further.

Take a shower before you go to bed. Use pyjamas to soak up your sweat, and use thinner quilts, extend the life of your bedlinen.

Invest in proper mending, repair and cleaning utensils. Invest in proper tools for small home repairs.

If it is dark at home, would cleaning the window let in more light?

If you have neighbours close by and you don’t want them to look into your rooms, would it help to put plants near the windows, like herbs? Herbs can also be eaten and they smell nice, saving you that febreeze.

At night and when you leave the house, always switch off any electrical equipment (except fridge and freezer) and pull the plug. Saves energy, money, and also prevents electric faults in your absence that could lead to fires.

When you take a shower, close the tap while you lather yourself up.

Many “rich” people got rich by looking at all these small savings for generations and teaching their children and grandchildren.

Many poor people are wasteful in their habits, and they pretend to be rich by wasting everything.

condaggitt

You need to shop real early…and find the store who really mark down item on the last date of sale…yesterday I got 10 1lb packages of breast of turkey. for 99 cents each…normal price $5.99 ….it had to be sold on june 30th or be tossed…..I dont even think they could give it away to the soup kitchens today…not sure of the rules… so i froze 9 of them used 1 last night. Good eating and cheap, and i’m not on FS.

Mark

Here’s a tip— Kohls will give you 25% off any day of the week no coupon needed. You just need to ask a manager and be persistant. The last time I shopped there, I got 30% off without a coupon. I had to get a salesperson to interrupt the General Manager from a meeting with her Dept Heads but I got my 30% off.

Ralfine

“#30 Why are so many cities all over the United States passing laws that make it illegal to feed the homeless?”

That is easy to answer. Homeless people can be put into labour camps producing profits for corporations.

For that they need to be hungry enough to steal a potato and be labelled a criminal or terrorist.

condaggitt

Rafine ever go to a food pantry? Ill keep banging everyone’s head …..its about Ebonics…..we need a WAR on EBONICS

90% if the people in prison speak it….a vast majority of homeless people do…

yet foreigners come here and the first thing they do is sign up for English classes….If they haven’t already taken them before they moved here.

xander cross

How foreigners come here and sign up for English classes when all of you are the main ones that say that they come here, don’t speak English, and get on food stamps. Oh, that’s right, you all blame black people for everything, but you love foreigners when it benefits your agenda. The hypocritical nature on this site.

Ralfine

#1: How much return do you get from all that spending on military infrastructure, hardware, and consumables?
What is the ROI from military spending for the American people?

JailBanksters

If everybody was in Poverty, then you have something to look forward to, to aspire to, life can only get better. But if your filthy rich, your the best you can ever be, things can not get any better only worse.

Ralfine

Food stamps is the means to monitor those without a credit card.

If you feed people outside of the food stamp program you can’t monitor them, and you can’t control them.

jsmith

And it keeps them from rioting!

seth datta

But I feel that food stamps/ebt card, are a method of social control. Monitoring = great govt control = bad, b/c they will eventually use the same on us.

Ralfine

Monitoring is great?
What is so great when civil servants know where you are, with whom you are talking, where you are shopping, who else is shopping there, etc.

seth datta

I don’t know where the word great appeared from. As such, I have amended my message. I must have meant ‘greater’

Mondobeyondo

Monitoring…. well, I suppose so, to keep people from buying frozen crab legs with their EBT cards. Yes, that does happen. More often than you think.

Otherwise – no.

Mondobeyondo

[ahem] i need food stamps to eat.
I never thought I’d be at this point, but voila, here I am!
For me, it is not an excuse for not rioting. It is permission to eat.

Yes, some of us still play by the rules.

Ralfine

But cash would just work as good, wouldn’t it?

markthetruth

#10 Add to it, The fed has to print money to buy it back. As of now a over a Billion a day.

the end…

markthetruth

#37 AS President Obama Pledges $7 Billion To Africa to kiss _ss calling it a investment . Because china beat us to it.

the end…

condaggitt

While rachel jentel is a prime positive example of the Flooorriddah skooll sistim.

xander cross

And yet, people on duck dynasty can’t speak clearly at all. That also includes people on moonshiners that don’t speak clearly at all.

K

It is all about money and control. As long as people buy into the nonsense, it will continue. I just returned from the Daytona Beach area. What I saw was interesting. Two new middle size companies had moved into town. Dozens of small businesses had closed. These were,well established companies, that had been around for many years. Several well known chain stores had downsized. Also for the first time I know of. A fairly large beachfront resort was closed. Chain Link fence around it and no activity of any kind. Overall an area that is losing ground. Now my promised book review. Michael I very much enjoyed your book. For a first effort, I would rank it as excellent. I found all the characters easy to identify with, a very important factor when writing a book..

Mondobeyondo

The Golden Rule:
“He who has the gold, makes the rules”

What a sad world we live in these days.

markthetruth

I have one question to ask them !!!

Why are we broke?

the end…

Mondobeyondo

Here’s a better question:

Who has all the money?

We’re all broke, right?

I’m broke. You’re broke. Universities are broke.Cities are broke States are broke.. The country is broke..

So – WHO HAS THE MONEY???

markthetruth

Thanks to NAFTA a Country of 300 million humans wealth is now spread all over 7 billion humans of the globe.

Security comes when a wise man joins a well established group of folks who have prepared to survive when it all comes apart. When living in your current home or location is not possible or safe.

These wise people continue to live their current daily lives knowing their secure fall back locations are turn key well stocked and ready to go to. Off the beaten path and very capable to provide water, food, shelter, security, companionship, food reproduction and safety in numbers.

These wise people are not anti govt nor anti social rather…pro life. Pro their own lives. They do not prepare to feed you or your family as they do not expect that from others. They are not feeding and taking you in now so why would you think the could or should then? They are responsible for themselves and act accordingly.

They call that the true meaning of Life Insurance. They spent their time preparing and storing away much like the ants in the old fable. While the grasshoppers played and blogged and talked all season long. When the seasons changed as they always do the ants retreated to their well stored location to weather the storms of life while the grasshoppers pleaded to be taken in and provided for as they had been before by the govt…. but not anymore.

Of course the ants turned them away as the wise people will also do. In the case of the fable the ants had the option to drag the bodies of the dead grasshoppers scattered all about inside to feast on. I believe the wise people just hope the masses will not elect to die to close and upwind.

What camp will all you bloggers be found in? The wise camp eating well and guarding their perimeter with well rested, well trained and well armed watchers… or in the camp of despair with no food, shelter and especially… no hope.

No hope is the worst part of the entire equation when you take the time to think it through. In that camp all will have ample time to think about back when they could have done things to prevent what they brought upon themselves through lack of effort.

Time is very short now so wheat are you going to do? My money is on the fact you will just keep blogging and think you will not be over run….

Dream on … dream on…

El Pollo de Oro

If you want to know the REAL unemployment rate in The Banana Republic of America (the Third World basketcase that used to be Les Etas Unis), I suggest checking out John Williams’ Shadow Statistics (those who listen to Alex Jones and Gerald Celente on a regular basis know who Williams is). The federal government’s bogus unemployment figures exclude the long-term unemployed, whereas Williams includes them. The government pretends those people no longer exist, while Williams counts them among the unemployment. And the unemployment figure Williams came up with for April 2013 was a whopping 23%. When did this country have 23% unemployment in the past? Try 1932, which was during the Great Depression and was the year FDR got elected and Herbert Hoover was voted out of office.

So in other words, there is no “economic recovery.” The Banana Republic of America has been in a depression since September 2008, and things aren’t getting better. In fact, they will get much worse when this depression deepens.

El Pollo de Oro

When I was growing up, abuelita used to tell me all about the horrors of the Great Depression. She lived through 1932. It was no fun, but the Greatest Depression (as Gerald Celente calls it) will be a lot worse than the 1930s. It will cut much deeper, and we’ll probably be looking at 50-60% unemployment (or higher) in the BRA.

Mondobeyondo

My Mama was born in 1932. It was an awful year. She’d tell me stories about her youth.

All I can say is – you do not want to go there. It’s hard right now. It’s hard for me (you longtime readers of this blog know my story).

I do not wish another Depression on anyone. Okay, maybe Hitler. But anyone else? No.

El Pollo de Oro

Mondobeyondo: My mom was born in 1929. My grandmother was born in the early 1900s and was old enough to remember when electric lights were replacing gaslights in American cities. Our family did pretty well when they came over from Europe (not rich, yet comfortably middle class), but when the Great Depression hit, they were slammed hard. 1932 was absolutely brutal. Sadly, history repeats itself.

Mondobeyondo

There is no economic recovery.
People will do anything to polish up their resume or make themselves look good.

The stock market is a joke.
It becomes serious when people stop investing,

El Pollo de Oro

I lived through the recessions of the early 1980s, early 1990s and early 2000s, but this economic horror cuts so much deeper. I don’t believe for a minute that this is a recession. It’s a full-fledged depression.

Trailer Park Investor

Good questions, Why doesent the main stream media even ask ONE of these questions? Are they all on the take, doesent even ONE of them have the BALLS to ask some of these hard questions, WHY?
I miss the old days of news reporting, where every question was fair game and they all got asked. BUT how they got replied to is another question, probably with a lie. (O Yes NAFTA will be good for America) Shipping jobs off overseasjust how is that good for America?

Dave Webb

The answer is blowing in the wind. After the MASH series left TV, there was a sequel to the book. In the sequel the doctors went into civilian life and formed a corporation and hospital. They hired Frank Burns to be the administrator! Frank really made the show.
You see they found that Frank had a very enviable record of failure. He was always 100% wrong. Frank in the sequel was always asked his medical opinion by the group and he was always very flattered to be so well valued. If he recommended not doing surgery, they went ahead and did the surgery immediately.

See what I am getting at? All we have to do to recover is do the opposite of what all our Frank Burns People are now doing. They also have a wonderful 100% failure rate. So if we do the opposite of what they are doing, we will succeed in recovering our country. (grin)

jsmith

Nice article. Good questions. I finally figured out that the banksters are repeating the Depression of 1929-45. Sure enough, after the loose policy of QE, the Fed is going to pull back, just like in the 1930’s.
Watch interest rates go up. Watch massive business failures. It’s the Fed’s way! They win, we lose.

Tosheba

37. Why isn’t Obama doing his job and creating an atmosphere to promote job growth in America instead of doing the exact opposite.
38. Why do the American people put up with Number 37?

39. Why CEO’s ship jobs to china? 40. Why people pay child support to the state? 41. Why women support abortion so much?

Gay Veteran

“Why women support abortion so much?”
because you can’t be free if you don’t control your own body

tfb

Got a good one for you. Did a little research on the the intertubes (so you know it’s legit) after a quick search I found that min. wage in 1967 was a buck 40. A big mac in 1967 cost 45 cents. So in ’67 you could work at McD’s for an hour and buy yourself roughly 3 big mac’s.

Now fastforward to today. Min. Wage is 7.25, however a big mac will cost you about 4 bucks.

And I can only imagine the pink goo content was a lot lower, and a mac was a little bigger back in ’67.

Thoughts?

Shmeggle Marxist

yep, similar math applies to gasoline prices

Joe

#1: Why are you taxing the seed corn? wages.
#2: Why are you taxing wages?
Answer: The federal reserve

2Gary2

Tax the rich hard and spread the wealth–it works!

Peter Edelman, So Rich, So Poor: Why It’s So Hard to End Poverty in America (2012).
Edelman points out that the 1960s and 1970s “war on poverty” actually
made significant progress, but it was stopped in its tracks. If the
nation’s gross national income — over $14 trillion — were divided
evenly across the entire U.S. population, every household could call
itself middle class. Yet income and wealth disparity is now wider than
at any point since the Great Depression. Wages for more than half of
American workers have stagnated. Edelman’s book is the best contemporary
diagnosis of what lessons we can learn from that earlier war on
poverty, how poverty has changed, and what to do about it now. As
Edelman explains, the problem is not the lack of policy ideas, but galvanizing the political will.

Robert (qslv)

Really?, Gary?. That same old tired drone that the Fascists in power have taught their muppets? The rich are the ones giving you your disability and food stamps, your free internet and Obamaphone. Not satisfied, Gary? You want more? “Go to the ant, o Sluggard”.

2Gary2

yes fox news drone really

ian

yeah Robert, quit spewing Fox news talking points.

Mondobeyondo

The dichotomy (spelling?) continues.
The rich get richer. The poor have babies. Or so they say. Of course, I pay no attention to what other people say. For the most part.

“I don’t care what you think, as long as it’s about me”… – Kurt Cobain, “Drain You”

Common denominator: We’re all human.

The mainstream media does not care about your welfare, your health, or anything else not associated with Kim Kardashian. Yeah, they’lll throw in a couple fluff articles or newscasts about how pinto beans can make your skin look more, um lively. If you fall for that stuff you read in Cosmo or Self magazines – well – good for you!

News for you – lima beans do the same thing.
Wanna know something else?
Surveys have showed that people who eat blackeyed peas are wealthier than people who do not eat blackeyed peas. Maybe it has something to do with how many peas people can afford to buy…?!?

Adrian

The people who leave comments on this blog are hopelessly stupid. No wonder Americans are so easily hoodwinked.

muffinmomma

You realize you just left a comment on this blog, don’t you?

Adrian

I rest my case…

El Pollo de Oro

I haven’t seen any cicadas down here in Philly either. The only thing I see coming up from the ground during the summer months are stinkbugs.

Il fine.

Cosmic2011

All I know is that I earn $1,200.00 per month after taxes, I can’t pay all of my bills every month, and I owe $48,000.00 in student loan debt. I can’t make heads or tails of this fiasco.

ian

your fault for buying into the diploma factories marketing.

Cosmic2011

That is true. But all US taxpayers will be paying for faults like mine. That’s the nature of the capitalist ponzi scheme beast.

peaceangel@zoho.com

Why are more than 2 million Americans expatriating every year to anywhere but here??